The story of Elijah’s faith is one of the coolest in the Bible. Can you imagine being there when Elijah prayed to God, asking Him to send fire (on wet wood) so that everyone would know that He is the ONE, true God? I am sure there were more than a few fist pumps going […]

Today’s Unwrapping the Greatest Gift lesson is one of my favorites. Gifts. Unexpected Gifts. Even as a grown woman I get excited over unexpected gifts. Especially when I have been in a season of sadness, disappointment, or confusion. Those are the times the unexpected gifts are the sweetest. I wonder if that is how Joseph […]

Our family enjoyed reading and discussing Day 1 of Unwrapping the Greatest Gift yesterday. We started a prayer list and came up with ways to show love to others this Christmas season. Some of the things the children planned were: to watch children for a young mother, make food for a hurting family, and make […]

We are thrilled to be using Ann Voskamp’s new advent book with our children this year. Unwrapping the Greatest Gift is beautiful in every sense of the word. We know this will be perfect for most of our children, but our littlest ones might have trouble sitting through some of the readings. We have decided to […]

Play is truly the KEY to lifelong learning. Check out this post that I wrote several years ago about the power of PLAY… One summer morning, I sent my little four-year old upstairs to get dressed for our day of errands. I was confident that he could pick out a pair of shorts and a shirt […]

When I think about Thanksgiving, I think about kindness and thankfulness. I am pretty sure most parents reading this share my desire for children to develop these character traits as early as possible. The questions is, how do we teach these concepts to young children? We know that young learners need lessons taught in a concrete manner […]

I will never forget the day my oldest son and I went to our local paint store to pick up some paint for the new room in our basement. When we stepped up to the counter to pay for our paint, the employee asked my son if he already had an account with the store. I […]

When my son was about four years old, I bought him his first journal. I had no idea how he would fill the pages, but I knew that I wanted him to be comfortable telling his story. As a child development specialist, I understood that children who connected with the power of words at a young […]

Yes, yes it can!!! The laundry can wait. Last week, a dear friend of mine made a statement that has haunted me ever since. As we were talking about our kids, she grabbed her phone to show me this adorable picture of her little ones. Quickly, I congratulated her on #sayingyes to letting her kids make […]